The invention relates generally to communication networks and methods, and more particularly to methods and systems for recovering network circuits that are stranded and/or those that are incurring a connectivity charge but that are not generating sufficient revenue.
Telecommunications service providers use many different types of network circuits to provide a variety of telecommunication services. Such services can include, for example, providing dedicated circuits within the Plain Old Telephone Service (“POTS”) network and providing access to an internet protocol (“IP”) network. When an end user requires service, a service provider establishes a connection from the end user's equipment to a network. This often involves designing and building an appropriate circuit to establish a path from the customer site to the edge nodes of a network, assigning available network facilities for use in building the circuit, and connecting or establishing the designed circuit.
Establishing service in this manner often involves multiple service providers. For example, an end user may contract with an inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) to provide a network service between various locations. The inter-exchange carrier (“IXC”) may in turn contract with one or more local exchange carriers (“LECs”) to provide dedicated circuits to connect the end user's equipment at each of the end user locations to edge nodes within the IXC's core network. Such circuits can be, for example, DS0 voice circuits.
Service providers generally employ various systems and databases to facilitate establishing and/or allocating circuits to connect an end user's equipment to an edge node within a network. For example, an ordering database can include the details about the end user's service request, such as the bandwidth desired, the point of origination, and the point of destination. An inventory database can include a listing of the edge nodes and circuits that are available for connecting the end user's equipment to the network. In cases when a circuit must be provided by a LEC, an interface system can be used to request a circuit from a LEC. Finally, a provisioning system can be used to establish the circuit by making the necessary software connections, thereby assigning the circuit to the end user.
Circuits connecting an end user's equipment to edge nodes within a network can fall into disuse and/or cease generating sufficient revenue for a variety of reasons, such as when the end user discontinues service or when a service provider unilaterally reroutes a circuit to improve service or to facilitate hardware upgrades. When an order to initiate or change service is being filled, some known provisioning systems disconnect unused circuits and return them to an inventory database for reuse on subsequent customer orders. Such systems, however, are not foolproof. There are instances when a circuit is no longer in use and/or ceases to generate sufficient revenue but remains connected, and therefore cannot be reused to fulfill subsequent orders. This can occur, for example, when a change to a circuit taking place in one network management system is not properly communicated to other network management systems. For example, an order to discontinue service may be properly input into an ordering database and executed by a provisioning system, but the LEC interface system may not issue a request to terminate the service. As such, although an end user is no longer using the circuit, a LEC may continue to charge the service provider an access fee associated with the circuit. Circuits that are not in use, but remain connected are often referred to as “stranded” circuits. Similarly, circuits that are incurring a charge but that are generating insufficient revenue are often referred to as “access-no-revenue” circuits.
Known network management systems do not review the status of network circuits once an order to initiate or change service has been completed to determine whether any network circuits associated with the order are stranded or are considered as access-no-revenue circuits. Thus, a need exists for methods and systems for identifying and recovering network circuits that are stranded and/or considered as access-no-revenue circuits.